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| Chess Game Menu | Kostics' Trap | Pratt's Home Page |
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Here is a great 7-move win which can be used against real players. It can only be used once, but that once can be reserved for tournaments (of average players). Where I worked, many people played chess daily at lunch. I watched a few games and finally asked if I could try a game against one of the better players. He usually opened with the standard Giuoco Piano, and I wondered if he knew about the classic Kostics' Trap (Muhlock vs. Kostics, Cologne, 1912, listed as Game #12 in Irving Chernev's 1000 Best Short Games of Chess, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1955). I soon found he didn't know it because he took the bait and exactly repeated the Kostics game. So here it is (just press the buttons to see the game). Later I invented my own 9-move variation which also worked in a tournament.
| 1. e2-e4, e7-e5. 2. Ng1-f3, Nb8-c6. 3. Bf1-c4, |
So far, this is the classic Giuoco Piano opening. |
| 3. ... Nc6-d4? | So here's the bait. It looks like the black knight has already forgotten what he was guarding. |
| 4. Nf3xe5, | White takes the bait! c2-c3 would have been much better! |
| 4. ... Qd8-g5. | It looks like a poor way to attack a knight which can now fork the queen. |
| 5. Ne5xf7, | Greed causes many people to ignore defense. Now Black can relax, the rest is pretty much forced. |
| 5. ... Qg5xg2. | White finally awakens to the threat of checkmate! |
| 6. Rh1-f1, Qg2xe4+. | White saves his rook but the threat continues. |
| 7. Bc4-e2, Nd4-f3 mate. | Death by suffocation! |